Current Universal Health Care Proposals

Some pertinent facts: (1) The U.S. has an annual GDP of $14 trillion. (2) The est. cost of the plan is One trillion dollars over ten years. Divide the total by ten and the result is billions per year. Given the vital importance of the plan, this country can well afford universal health care. (3) The final plan should provide every American citizen with the best health care insurance program on this planet. We can afford it. Why offer us less than the best? (4) Some propose saving money by cutting senior citizen treatment and care, on the ground that seniors typically get sick more, so cost the plan more. This is heartless denial of constitutional guarantees of equal treatment under the law. There is literally no basis other than economics on which such a denial of service to seniors can be justified,especially ethics and morals. (5) Finaly, there is the purely pragmatic idea, attributed to Rahm Emmanuel, that the Congress enact a "trigger" device, by which the public plan wold only be used if private plans became excessively costly. Who, then, would make the subjective judgement that costs had gone too high? Why not immediately have the plan in operation for those who already cannot afford a private plan? This is not a logical idea, but an obviously expedient political compromise that cannot possibly meet the urgent need of the American public and the entire health care community. If necessary, the Democratic majority and the White House should meet any threat of filibuster headon, and pass, and activate, the calibre of national plan Americans need and deserve.

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